Mindfulness and Management of Low Desire and Vulvovaginal Pain.
Lori A Brotto, Melanie Altas
Obstetrics and gynecology clinics of North America June 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.ogc.2024.02.002 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review and meta-analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Mindfulness |
| Duration | 1-year follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Attention Provoked vestibulodynia Sexual desire Sexual dysfunction |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | Mindfulness significantly improves sexual desire, reduces sexual pain, and lowers sex-related distress, and reduces vulvovaginal pain intensity with improvements retained a year later. |
Abstract
Mindfulness is defined as present-moment, nonjudgmental awareness. By reducing self-criticism, and depression, and increasing self-compassion, attention, and interoceptive awareness, mindfulness has been found across a variety of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to significantly improve sexual desire, sexual pain, and sex-related distress. It helps individuals connect with their bodies, fostering a deeper understanding of sensations and desires while reducing the focus on negative, judgmental, and catastrophic sex-related and pain-related thoughts. By teaching individuals to focus on bare sensations, mindfulness has also been found to significantly reduce vulvovaginal pain intensity with improvements retained a year later.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |
Citations in the library
Cites 12
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse Psychotherapy Research March 1, 2003
- A virtual, group-based mindfulness intervention for midlife and older women with low libido lowers sexual distress in a randomized controlled pilot study The Journal of Sexual Medicine June 23, 2023
- Mindfulness and Sex Education for Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder: Mediators and Moderators of Treatment Outcome. The Journal of Sex Research May 2023
- Feasibility and Acceptability of a Group-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder Following Breast Cancer Treatment. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 2023
and 7 more in the library